"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel."

Happy late Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday and that you are having a good recovery day! I know we aren't doing much today, too tired and too lazy really! But we had an awesome Thanksgiving and are now just enjoying the rest of the weekend together. We had Amy and Calvin over yesterday and all made dinner together and had a great time! The weather was beautiful, the company was wonderful, and the food was amazing! This was my first time being "in charge" of the meal and I must say we did a pretty darn good job! Mark and I did the turkey first off, I had him help take all the delightful innards cuz I didn't really want to do it.



Then we put some stuff inside to keep it nice and moist, stuck it in the oven and let it do its thing!



I didn't really take many other pics of the prep or anything cuz I was busy making it, but I did get this one of Mark and Amy peeling potatoes. Such good helpers! ;) (Calvin helped too, he was cutting them up after they were peeled, most of the time though they played our new toy, a Wii! We got it as an early Christmas present/Mark's graduation present and it is SOOO much fun! We got Mario Kart for it which is the BEST game ever!)



The Finished product! Isn't it pretty? Me and Mark were pretty darn proud of ourselves. It was darn good tastin' too! Nice and juicy and perfect!



And the ENTIRE finished product. Very pretty as well. I pulled out our "good" dishes and a nice table cloth and it all turned out great! I wanted it to look nice even though it was just us four.



Amy and Calvin, so cute! :)



I took this pic per Calvin's request...



And this one without Amy's permission! :) haha...



And here is the best part of the whole meal! My beautiful double layer pumpkin cheesecake which turned out PERFECT! I was kinda worried cuz cheesecakes can be so tricky but mine didn't crack or fall in or anything and it was SOOOO good! totally worth it. Even Calvin loved it and he doesn't like pumpkin stuff! So I guess I did good.



And of course I can't do a blog without a pic of my baby! She did pretty good yesterday, took a lot of naps and spent some time in the kitchen with us while we cooked (she likes to sit in there and watch me or she likes to stare at the fridge too...I don't know why but she likes it so whatever!). Unfortunately her good day didn't last too long and after Amy and Calvin left she proceeded to take little mini naps when she should have been down for the night and wouldn't stay asleep unless we were holding her or right next to her, usually she does so good going to sleep at night! Then she stayed up til 11:30...ugh! So I didn't get much sleep last night, especially since I got up to go to Target at 5am to get some awesome tv shows on DVD that were on sale for amazing prices...totally worth it although I am extremely TIRED today! She's taking a nap right now though so now that I'm done with this it's naptime for me! I'll just end with a great note of thanks to all our friends and family for everything! We love you all so much and are so thankful to have you in our lives. And of course we are especially grateful this year for our beautiful baby girl and for the happiness she brings to us! We have been truly blessed this year and are very thankful for each and every blessing we have received!

Everyday, you make me smile. Everyday, you make me glad to be a mother."

Here's a few pictures from the past week just to show you that I haven't disappeared or anything. It's just been a chill week, just been taking care of Evelyn, going through stuff/throwing away stuff, and starting to pack! Just 2 weeks of classes left, then finals and Mark will be DONE with college (well with his bachelor's anyway)! And only 23 days til we leave Utah!!!

(who wouldn't LOVE to wake up to this sweet, smiling face every morning? I'm so lucky! :)

(already practicing some boxing skills to keep the boys away or so her daddy hopes and wishes... :)

(After bath time, she's liking her baths now thank goodness!)

(She's also been liking the love sac lately, takes some good naps in it!)

(Chillin' with daddy)

"Daughters are flowers that are forever in bloom."

Having a baby girl is so much fun! There are just so many cute things out there to dress her up in and make her cute and adorable. Unfortunately a lot of that cute stuff is expensive!!! So that's when DIY comes into play. I love the cute little tutu skirts out there, I see little girls all the time at the mall wearing them and they are just adorable! They are pretty expensive though, which is so dumb for something so simple and easy! So I went and made one myself! I went and bought some tulle and elastic and wa-la! Presto chango- I have a cute skirt! :) (My friend Whit made the cute little flower thing to match it and I put it on the skirt).




I mainly wanted to have it because we're going to be getting some pics done at the beginning of the month (we're doing a fam pic so I got a cute little holiday pic and then I wanted to have something ultra cutesy for her to get some individual ones of her). So I thought this was cutesy enough for it! I'm having my awesome little sister Monie crochet some Mary Jane booties for the holiday pic and then some ballet slippers/hat for the cutesy outfit. It's going to be so freaking adorable and I can't wait to get them done!

'Wherever your feet lead you, may they always help you find the way home.'

This is why my stomach felt like it was a soccer ball in the world cup at 10pm every night...



She did this for almost 15 minutes straight last night, it was SO cute and SO funny! Most of the time she just gets going with her right leg and some little moves with her right, then sometimes she alternates them and other times they are sychronized...it's pretty funny! She's such a wiggly little thing though!!! But so cute and so happy and smiley! Too adorable I tell ya...we just love watching her, it's so entertaining!

(I just thought this was a funny pic...she is very expressive with her hands though).

(she's been crossing her feet more lately, which is funny cuz at our second ultrasound she was crossing her feet like that then too!

(so cute!)

(I finally got her hands wrapped up but now her feet get free...I'm never gonna win. But they look so cute!)

(a closer up pic, they're so big!)